Adjustable brake rod jaw



Sept. 29, 1931. Q KOOPMANS 1,824,821

ADJUSTABLE BRAKE Rob'JAw Filed May 26, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheer. l

no'enhw Sept. 29, 1931. L. c. KooPMANs ADJUSTABLE BRAKE ROD JAW Filed May 26. 1928 2 Sheets-'Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 29h, 1,931

UNITED i y i 1,824,821?

LAMBERT c. Kooriuaiis, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS AnJUsrABLE` BRAKE-Ron .inw

Application led May .26,

Myinvention' relates vbroadly to rod Iand lever connections and more particularly tof brake 'rod' j aws,*-asf they arefknownrin the railway art, and which are employedl for connecting the brake rods tothe brake' beams lil..-

` forming a pivot joint.

M'T labor is requiredto lengthen die-connectingL or levers of railway4 cars and for establishing connection,.betweenv othervelements of the br'akerigging. ,j

Heretofore, theV connecting 'rods used to" connect the various `levers and other parts of? the brake gear have eachbeen composed` of a rod of suitable length with a'jaw' at either or both ends; Suchl jaw is commonly" attached to the lever by means of a pin,

Through constant use and applications of* the brake, the friction surface ofboth the wheel and the brake shoes wear away,'ca`u's ing" the movable members of thevbrake gear to travel farther and farther, as this-conf tinual attrition, or wear, occurs, `beforea retardingor arrestingy pressure can be ap#` plied to the periphery of the wheel. lhen the limit of eXtension or contraction oflthet Amovable parts of Vthe brake gear has 'beenreaclied,it"is necessary to take thecar out of service and lengthen thel connecting rods.

The caris not only taken" out of'y service for an indefinite period, but skilled kblacksmith rods.

the jaws are separate and distinctive parts.

to which therod is attached by meansV- of" threading the end of the-rod`through channels or eyes provided inthejaw, and then- `bending the end ofthe rod back upon it-y self, forming a closed hook, or eye. Both of these types of rodsemploy a removable brake pinto form the pivot joint at the point of attachment to the brake lever.

of brake connecting rods enumerated above,

provided in both the lever and the jaw'.` A

cotter key or pin, isthen inserted through Two types of brake Connecting rods are now in general use onv American railways;l- On one type the jaws are component andvv `integral parts of the rod, and on' the other In practice, with the two v`comlnontypes 192s',A seriali" magasin.'

a hole provided in the end of thefbrake` pin' so that' the brake pins'c'annot fall out andl allow the brake rod and brake lever tobecome separated. Sometimes a'I device known as a head lock? is used on the head end of the brakepin inthe jaw so that the use or empl' yment of the cot-ter key or pin, is not' required.

Through negligence of the car builder, kor repairer, head locks or Cotter keys are some times appliedineorrectlyand even omitted altogether. This allowsthev brake pin"l to' work loose and fall out while the car isin transit. Thebrake isthereby renderedin-y effective and parts of the brake gear, allowed to fall and drag, are very frequently the direct cause of serious derailment's and consequential loss of life. These are but a few ofthe deiiciencies of the two/common types of brake rod jaws now in use. v.

It' is therefore the primary object of this invention to overcome theobjections, aforenoted, to prevailing types of brake rod-jaws, land'to provide a novel and improved 'device of this character which can be readily applied by unskilled labor, lengthened oriadLV j usted,-all within a vfew minutes-without removingithe brake rod from thercar or tak-v ing the carout of' service.'

' A further object of the invention resides in thel provision of a device of this kindin-Y cludinga novel enclosedv type of brake pin p that requires neither' 'a cotter key nor a head lock,-the` relative construction of the pin .and associated parts being such that the pin cannot beY removed without completely dismantling theV jaw, which opera-V tion. requires-the' use of tools.

A further object of the invention-fis toi.

provide a brakero-d jaw, as characterized'- which is simple in constructionV-'involving relatively Vfew parts of an interchangeableV character whereby the entire appliance caney not be rendered unusable ,at one timeonewhich will be exceedingly durableand eliv cient in practical use and yet relatively inL kexpensive of manufacture. n p

It is also an object of the invention to furnish a device lof`this kind which can readily be adjusted to compensate forbrake wifi shoe wear,the capacity for adjustment being limited only by the length of the jaw,- and which lattervcan be made of a length to accommodate any possible combination of adjustment.

The invention also resides in such novel features of construction, combination, and arrangement of the various parts e and in modes of operation thereof-all of which will be readily understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art upon reference tov the accompanying drawings in connect-ion with the followingv detailed description. The, now preferred embodiment of the in vention has been made the subject of the drawingsand descriptiomj-but it is to be understood that the invention is susceptible of other mechanicalexpr'essions within the scope of the subjectrnatter claimed hereinafter. i 1V e In the drawings, wherein the same refersy ence characters have been used .to designate the same parts in all views,-

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a brake rod jaw incorporating my invention; Y

1 Figurev2 is a longitudinal sectionalview taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a group perspective View of certainof the parts disassembled;

r Figure 4 is a cross section on the line 4 -4 of Figures 1 and 2, and

Figure 5 is a cross section on the line 5-5 of Figure 1. f Y,

Referringvspeciiically to the drawings, the adjustable jaw member is generally noted at 1 and comprisesv elongated, preferably drop-forged sections 2, 3. The sections or halves are cored adjacent their rear ends to define chambers 4, 5, respectively, of arcual cross section to receive the end of a brake rod 6.A

VFigures 2 and 3 clearly illustrate that each ofthe elongated arcual rod engaging portions 4, 5 is provided with one'or more transverse holes 4a, 5a, respectively,these being spaced in the direction of the length of the jaw to selectively receive the off set or later?. 'ally bent end 6a of the brake rod 6 so as to hold the latter against longitudinal move ment relatively of the jaw sections 2, 3.

The body of each of the sections 2, 3 in the region of holes 4a, 5a is considerably thickened, as shown, so as to give the jaw increasedstrength at thispoint,-and furj ther the surfaces of the holes 4a, 5a adjacent theventrances and the exits thereof have walls beveled, as at 4b, 5b and are slightly elongated in the direction of the length of the section so as to permit slight rockin@r movement of the latter relatively to the o set 6a of the rod,ras when the parts are being assembled or disassembled, so that these Yoperations will be facilitated.

Figures 2 and 5 illustrate that the fit of the opposed chambers Il, 5 upon the brake rod 6 is such that the opposed edges of sections 2, 3 will be spaced so as to permit the walls of the chambers 4, 5 to firmly grip the rod 6 when the sections are clamped together by the means which will now be described.

The medial portion of section 2 has its inner face provided with a substantially frusto-conical boss 8, which is longitudinally bored, as at 8, and adapted to it into the frusto-conical recess 9 located at the medial portion of section 3, the latter having a hole 9a adapted to be aligned with hole 8a of boss 8 so as to receive the securing bolt 10.

Bolt 10 preferably has a drive fit in boss bore 8a and 'a loose fit inthe hole 9a of recess 9, 'It will be evident that the boss 8 has an easysliding it in recess 9 toits ,full depth.

The head. 10ar of bolt 1.0 is engaged by opposed cleats 11 formedupon the upper surface of section 2 and arranged onopposite sides of holes 8a whereby the bolt 10 is prevented from turning. The sections 2, 3 are drawn together by the nut 12 threaded on boltr 10 and bearing against a spring washer 13 thereon. Frustoconical boss portion 8 has a side shoulder 8b ina plane with the edges of chamber l and adapted to engage `the plane top surface of the thickened porever, as indicated in the drawings, the' op posed portions of the jaws 2, 3 are .ordinarily spaced and exert a clamping pressure against the pin 19 and rod 6.

The forward jaw endsof sections 2, 3 are providedwith circular enlargements 15, 16 the outer surfaces of which are formed with lateral frusto-conical projections 15, 16aL having transverse holes 15b, 16b communicatingwith circular chambers 15"', 16?

inthe inner surfaces ofrportions 15, 16.

rlhe portions of the sections 2, V3, in advance of the boss and socket 8, 9 are offset or spaced from one another when assembled, as shown in Figure 2, to provide the recess 18 for receiving the brake lever, (not shown) and which is *provided` with a bearing through which the brake pin 19. is adapted to extend. One end of pin 19 is shrunk or sweated into the recess 16C so as to become in effect an integral part of section 3. The other end of pin 19 extends into the circular recess 15c of section 2. It will be Ymanifest that when, the two sections 2, 3

are clamped together, pin 19 will be held rigidly in place to secure the end of brake lever in the recess between theforward ends of the two sections 2, 3. By providing the frusto-conical portions 15a, 16a with end holes 15b, 16b it is possible todrive pin 19 out of engagement with either one of the circular recesses 15, 16c after the sections 2, 3 have been disengaged. i

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings the construction, mode of operation and advantages of my invention will doubtless be readily understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art. There is no danger of pin 19 becoming disengaged and permitting parts of the brake rigging to drag on the road bed to possibly cause derailinent of the car in transit. Furthermore it is a very simple matter,-after the brakeshoes have become worn to compensate for such wear by adjusting the laterally offset end 6 of brake rod 6 into a more advanced one of the holes 4a, 5a. The only thing that is necessary to be done is to remove boltolO and separate sections 2, 3 sufficiently to effect the change.

As will be readily appreciated the use of my invention materially increases the service that may be gotten out of the brake shoes, since it is obvious that the slices can be kept in use by appropriate adjustment of the rods 6 afterthey have worn away to such eX-v tent that the slack adj usters would otherwise be unable to compensate for such wear. It is also to be noted that when a complete renewal of the brake shoes or wheels is made it is unnecessary to install a new brake rod 6, because a brake rod and jaw construction, as disclosed in my invention, can be adjusted.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: r Y

l. A brake rod aw or the like comprising a pair of separable sections, said sections being formed adjacent one end to embrace a brake rod having a lateral lug and a series of longitudinally spaced holes adapted to selectively receive the lug, means 'for clamping said sections together, the other ends of.

said sections spaced from the clamping means defining jaw portions and having opposed recesses, and a coupling pin ada ted to be positioned into said recesses and eld in place when said sections are clamped together. Y s

2. In a device of the class described comprising separable sections and having means for connection to a brake rod at one end and having jaw portions at the opposite end,

said jaw portions havingopposed recesses and inner shoulders, a transverse, pin nonrotatably secured between said aw portions and seating in said recesses, said recesses being closed in the direction of the end of said device, and the latter having a single securing and clamping means intermediate the` brake rod connection and jaw portions wherebyl said-pin! can? be seated in said-re``l cesses and. avgripping'engagement upon the brake 'rod at 4the other endr effected.. .v

- '3. A device of the 'classjdescribed comprisinga' pair of separable sections, said sections having means at one end for connection with a brake rodfand also having spaced from said meansa frusto-conicall boss formed me'- dially of the inner face of `one of said sections, the corresponding portion of the other section yhaving a fruste-conical recess to receive said boss, a clamp'v bolt ext-endingv throughflsaid bossand recess portions for connecting the sections together, the other ends of saidsections being formed to provide spaced jaws for the reception of a brake 1ever, the inner surfacesv ofv each of said jaws having opposed recesses, and a pindisposed betweeny said jawsandl adapted to be receivedr inv said recesses'for:connecting a brake lever' between the jaws. :r Y i s r' Y 4, A device ofthe class described comprisinga pair of separable sections, a brake rodfhaving a Alaterally turned end, said sections being coredout transversely on the arc of a circle from one end to a point adjacent the medial portions thereof, whereby to pr vide means-for clamping the brake rod therebetween, the cored out portions of said sections-providinga series of. holes running in the direction of the length thereof for selective reception of the offset end of said brake rod, a frusto-conical boss portion at themedial part of one of said sections and extending from the inner plate thereof, the other section having a medial frusto-conical socket in its inner face to receive said boss, said frusto-conical boss having a shoulder at one side lying in a plane withthe edge of its arcually chambered rod receiving portion, the end wall of said socket lying in a pla-ne with the edge of the arcually chambered rod` j receiving portion of` said second section, a

clamp bolt extending through said frustoconical boss and socket portions to hold said sections assembled, the other ends of said sections being formed to providespaced aw portions, the outer surfaces of said jaw portions having lateral enlargements, said lateral enlargements having opposed inner surfacefrecesses, and a transverse pin having its ends adapted to be seated in said recesses lwhereby to connect a lever between said jaw portions.-

v5. In a brake rod jaw comprising a pair of separable sections providing an eye-receiving bearing adjacent one end and a rod connecting means adjacent the other end, securing means intermediate'the bearing and rod connecting means for holding the sections to- 'gether, one of the eye bearing defining portions of said sections having fixed therein a lateral pivot stud, and the said eye bearing portion of the other section having a seat for said stud whereby to prevent relative shifting of said sections When assembled.

G. In a brake rod jaw comprising a pair of separable sections providing an eye-receiving bearing adjacent one end and a rod grip adjacent the other end, the rod grip portion of said sections providing a closeljT spaced lineal series of lug receiving sockets, and a 'socketo one section being staggered with respect to a socket in the other section, and a single clamp means intermediate said eye bearing and rod grip.

7. A brake rod jaw comprising a pair of separable sections providing an eye receiving bearing adjacent onev end and a rod grip adjacent the other end, the rod grip portion of said sections providing a closely Yspaced lineal series of lng receiving sockets, and a socket of one section Vbeing.,staggered with respect to a socket in the other section anda clamp ymeans for the sections.

8. In abrake rod javv comprising a pair or" separable sections having means for nonrotatably securing an eye-receiving bearing therebetween, adjacent one end thereof, and a rod'connecting means adjacent the other end, and securing means intermediate the bearing and rod connecting means Jfor holding the sections together.

In testimony whereof ture.

I aiX my signa- LAMBERT o. KooPMANs. 

